columnists

Biography

Paula Simons is the Edmonton Journal's award-winning City columnist. A born-and-bred Edmontonian, Simons is a graduate of the University of Alberta (BA Hon.) and Stanford University (MA), as well as a former fellow at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. Over her years with the Journal, she has served as provincial affairs columnist, culture columnist and as a member of paper's editorial board.

Simons has earned five prestigious National Newspaper Award citations of merit for her editorials, columns and investigative political reporting.

In 2005, she was part of a Journal news team that won an NNA for its coverage of the murder of four RCMP officers at Rochfort Bridge. She later won the Canadian Bar Association Prix Justicia certificate of merit for her writing on the legal issues surrounding that same case. In 2002, Simons was part of a Journal team recognized by the Governor-General with a Michener Award citation for meritorious public service journalism, for its investigation into the deaths of seven aboriginal children from the Samson First Nation.

She has also received special awards from Edmonton's gay and lesbian community, Edmonton's Vietnamese community, the Edmonton and Alberta branches of the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Alberta Centre for Civil Liberties Research for her columns championing social justice, civil rights and inclusive communities. In August 2007, she was named an Edmonton Woman of Vision, and in November 2008, she was honoured by the Edmonton Historical Board for her writing on Edmonton history, architecture and heritage preservation.

Before joining the Journal in 1995, Simons spent seven years as a producer with CBC Radio working on programs that included Edmonton AM, The Arts Tonight and Ideas. There, she earned the Banff Centre for the Arts' Maclean-Hunter Fellowship in Arts Journalism. Her work has also appeared in Alberta Views, Today's Parent, Legacy, Western Living, Reader's Digest, Saturday Night and Brick magazines. She's a frequent contributor to radio and television panel discussions.

Paula Simons lives in Edmonton with her husband and daughter. Follow her on Twitter @Paulatics - and join her, along with her colleagues David Staples and Todd Babiak, in their discussions of civic issues, on their joint Journal blog, The Edmonton Commons.

Cindy Gladue was the mother of three daughters. She loved cooking and baking and watching the Food Network. She wasn’t just a collection of preserved body parts. She wasn’t just a political cause. She was a 36-year-old woman who deserves to be remembered for who she was, and not just how she died.

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After the political dramatics of the weekend, the scene is pretty much set for the provincial election — as one major character entered the limelight and another was booed off the stage. Enthusiastic Wildrose members chose former federal politician Brian Jean as their new leader at a meeting Saturday night, but saved their loudest cheers of the evening for the news that their old leader Danielle Smith had lost her bid to become the Progressive Conservative candidate in the southern Alberta riding of Highwood.